Ladder



Jan.v 16, 1940. 1 J. TILLMAN LADDER Filed Aug. 10, 1958 PatentedJan. `16, 1940 LADDER ticularly to improvements" in ladders of the type ""whose yrungsmhave ,offset ends for extending through a; plurality of .openingsformed in angutnetype mentioned that they wi11 be nrmiy held bythe stilesyof lthe ladder and accordingly `will f larlydisposedportions of thestiles of the ladder. r Suchladders are singularly applicable to railway freighticarsibut they are obviously capable of ,use in other environments.

Theprincipalobject ofthe invention is to so formfthe :offset ends of the rungs of ladders of notjvibrate `and rattle.

itjprimary` feature ofv the invention consists` in providing the offset ends of the ladder rung with rearwardly-*extending portions which terminate the left ,hand side of thatgure.

in lateral projections, the lateral projection at one end of the `rung being offset vertically from the lateral` projection at the other end of the `rung sothat one of theprojections will engage the `bottom portion of the` opening through which it `is adapted `toextendin one of the stiles and the other of the projections will engage the top; "portion of -the opening through which it is'intended to extend in the other stile.

Another feature ofthe invention consists in so d forming the lateral projections of the offset ends of the rung that their` axes will be disposed on opposite side of "aplane normal to the stiles passing through theV axis of themain body portion of therung. i .ii l i Qtherfeatures ofthe invention residing in advantageous` forms,` combinations and relations of parts will hereinafter appear and be pointed out i in the claims.`

i In the drawing,

Figure` `1isasideelevational view of one end ofa railway car showingtwo ladders embodying the invention applied thereto, one of the ladders being shown `in side elevation and the other in end elevation@ j i 1 Figure v2;"isla`nenlargedyside elevational view of a portion 4ofthe ladder;` l

Figure Bis an enlarged detail sectional view Figure 4` is a detail side elevationalview of the construction,` shown in `Figure 3 as viewed `from Figure 5 is an end `elevational the ladderrungs. j l i f i Referring more particularly to the drawing,` l indicatesthestiles of the ladder, each of which is preferably'of angle shape solas to provide angularly disposed portions or legs 2 and 3, respectively. The stiles are oppositely arranged so that view of one of Lambert J. runnen," Toledo, ohio,V assigner; to" Unitcast Corporation, Toledo,` Ohio, l"alcorporation of Ohio i lapplieetien Agust 19,1938, serial No. 224,172 d l 5 oiaimaici. 22a-56) `invention `relates to ladders and moreparof `a railway freight car which `is designated generally in the drawing by thevreference nuthrough apertures l andI Bformed in the 'legs 2 and' 3, respectively,` of each of thestiles. Each offset end` ofyea'ch rungconsistsof a portion 9 `which extends rearwardly from the main body portion' .IIJ ofthe: rung4 through the opening 1 of the leg 2- .of the adjacent stile' and a lateral projectioniifwhichextends through the aperture 8 inthe leg 310i; the adjacent stile.

es@ PAT-smi @mee y heir outer legs 2 project toward each other."

6 `of the'ladder arezeach provided with offset endswhich are adapted to "extend lo As is known,` ladders ofthe type herein de`V scribed are assembledby `first inserting one end to, the rungs are effectively secured in place and l `cannot-be removed.` However, unless more precision isemployedin manufacturing the ladder thanis justified in making articles of this character, diiiiculty has been encountered in prevent-` ing the runes from rettung arid vibrenngwah `of all the rungs in the openingsprovided there-` i respectto the stiles. While this does not detract i from the strength `of the ladder since the rungs, even thoughthey be capable of being vibrated to an apparently-excessive degree, cannot be disconnectedfromthe stiles, unless` the rungs or `the Stiles be deformed orbent to such an extent r as would obviously render them unt for use,

such looseness of the rungsfasmay occur is objectionable in .that one examining Aor using the ladder and being unacquainted with the con-` `struction thereof may gain the impression that theladder islunsafe. Moreover, the noise which l may be occasioned bythe vibrations of one or more loose rungs in the ladder has proved objectionable to some users of ladders of this type.

To overcome these objects, I have found that by verticallyoifsetting the lateral projections ll of each'of the rungs with respect to each other, the

rungs may ,be rmly held` and. engaged by the stiles and thus `be prevented from vibrating and i rattling, This offsetting` of the lateral projections Il is preferably accomplished by oppositely inclining the rearwardly extending portions 9` of each rung with respect to a plane passing through the axis ofthe major portion of the rung land normal to the stiles. In this manner, the

- axes of the lateral projections of each rung, which are preferably parallel, will be vertically spaced with respect to each other and be disposed on y vopposite sides of the plane passing through the main b'ody portion of `the rung and normal to the stiles.

By having the lateral projections of each rung offset with respect to each other in this manner,

' the lateral projection at one end of the rung will engage the bottom portion of the opening in the i 't stile through which it extends, while the lateral projection at the other end of the rung will enj gage the upper portion'of the opening in the stile through'which it extends. This engagement yof the lateralI projections of each rung with alternate faces of the openings-in the stiles is assuredbecause the-amount the projections are offset with respect `to each other is such that, vwhen the rungs have been `assembled with the vstilesin the manner heretofore described, the

horizontal Aalignment with each other and the rungs into horizontal position, the lateral projections of each rung' will, therefore, be forced into engagement with alternate faces oftheopenings in the stiles and torsional stresses will be set up in the main body portion of the rungs which will serve to maintain the desired engagement of the 'rungs with the stiles for so long as the stiles are rigidlyl held in place.

Due to the torsional stresseswhich are set up in the main body portions of the rungs, it will be' found advantageous in mounting the latter on a support, such as a railway car, to first secure one of the stiles to the support and then force the other stile upwardly into its proper position and maintain it in such position while it is being secured to the support. When the stiles are thus secured in place, it is evident that the rungs will be effectively prevented from vibrating.`

` The desired configuration may be imparted to `the ends of the rung by subjecting the bar of metal from which 4the rung isto be formed to two simple swaging or upsetting operations without the necessity of ltwisting one end of the bar withrespect to the other. lThis may be easily accomplished by iirst subjecting one `end of the bar to a swagng operation which will Aprovider it with a rearwardly extending portion 9 and a lateral projection II. The other end of the bar may be then operated upon in a similar manner but, during this operation, the bar is so held that the t v axis of the rearwardly extending portion 9 rst formed isfdisposed at an angle to the direction of movement of the pressure applying'element of the swage; that is to say,` after the first swaging operation, the bar 'is rotated slightly on its axis. from the position it occupied during that operation so that, upon completion of the second swaging operation, theaxes of the two rearwardly extending `portions thus formed will lie in angularly disposed planes Whose line of intersection is coincident with the axisv of themain body portion of the rung.

From the foregoing, it will be perceived that simple and efficient means has been devised for holding rungs of ladders of the type herein disclosed rigidly in place so as to prevent them from vibrating and rattling.

What I claim is:

1. A ladder rung having odset ends respectively adapted to extend through a plurality of openings formed in angularly disposed portions of the stiles of the ladder, said oifset ends of the rung respectively having rearwardly extending portions terminating in lateral projections, the lateral projection at one end of the rung being oilset vertically from the lateral projection at the other end of the rung whereby one of saidv projections is adapted to engage the bottom p0rtion of the opening through which it is intended to extend in one of the stiles and the other of said projections is adapted to engage the top portion of the opening through whichit is intended to extend in the other stile.

2. The improvement in ladder rungs of the character having oifset ends respectively adapted to extend through a plurality of openings formed in angularly disposed portions of the stiles of the ladder, said improvement consisting 4in providing each offset end of the rung with a portion which extends inwardly from the main body portion of the rung and which terminates beyond the adjacent end of the latter in 'a lateral projection whose axis is spaced in the directionof length of the stiles from the axis of the lateral projection at the other end of the rung.

3. A ladder rung having offset ends respectively adapted to extend through a plurality of openings formed in angularly disposed portions of thel stiles of the ladder, said oifset ends' of the rung respectively having rearwardly extending portions terminating in lateral projections, the axes of said projections being disposed on opposite sides of a plane normal to the stiles passing through the axis of the main body portion Aofl the rung.

4. A ladder rung having offset ends respectively adapted to extend through a plurality of openings formed in angularly disposed portions of the stiles of the ladder, said oifset ends of the rung respectively having rearwardly extending portions terminating in lateral projections, the rearwardly extending portions being inclined in opposite directions with respect to a plane normal to the stiles passing through the axis of the main body portion of the rung and said lateral projections being oset vertically with respect to each other.

5. A ladder including stiles having angularly disposed portions, and rungs having offset ends respectively provided with rearwardly extending 

